Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday filed a motion for cloture on the defense authorization bill, meaning that the first showdown vote affecting the language to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) will take place on Tuesday afternoon.

The majority will need 60 votes on Reid’s motion in order to proceed Tuesday with consideration of the annual defense spending bill—a bill which includes language that could lead to repeal of the law banning gays from the military.

Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that Democrats have 55 votes to support repeal, but he did not boast any certainty that they can get the 60 to break a filibuster.

Reid filed his motion for cloture after Republican leader Mitch McConnell indicated his party members would not give “unanimous consent” for the Senate to take up the defense bill. McConnell said this week he thinks the DADT repeal language is “controversial,” but he did not identify it as the reason Republicans are withholding unanimous consent. Instead, he identified several other matters proposed for inclusion—matters involving immigration and Senate rules.

If the Democrats fail to pass the cloture motion on Tuesday, Reid has the option of calling for reconsideration of that motion whenever he wants.

If the Senate passes the cloture motion, Reid and McConnell will then discuss when various amendments to the legislation might be considered. One amendment that has been mentioned as a likely amendment from Republicans is one to strip the DADT language from the bill. On other legislation this year, Republicans have attempted to pass amendments aimed at making the underlying bill objectionable to supporters.

It is not certain when any DADT-related amendments might come up in consideration of the overall bill.

Meanwhile, various LGBT-related groups are stepping up pressure for a vote. One group from Arizona, known as HERO, stood and held up placards at a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting Thursday, urging committee minority leader John McCain to end his opposition to repeal of DADT. McCain has been one of the more vocal opponents of the repeal in the Senate.

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A Closer Look

The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 26 decision striking down state bans against same-sex marriage has been touted as “probably the strongest manifesto in favor of marriage” and pilloried as “a threat to American democracy.” The huff and puff will soon die down, and here’s a look at the legal bricks that will remain standing and why some might think the dissent is crying “wolf.”

Breaking News

A U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission decision Thursday could provide important remedies to thousands of federal workers who might face sexual orientation discrimination and may increase pressure on Congress to advance the ENDA.

June 26 has been solidified as the historic date for LGBT history in the United States. It is the day in 2003 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not enforce laws prohibiting same-sex adults from having intimate relations. It is the day in 2013 when a Supreme Court procedural ruling enabled same-sex couples to marry […]

In a widely expected yet stunning victory for LGBT people nationally, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today (June 26) that state bans on marriage for same-sex couples are unconstitutional. The decision requires states to both issue marriage licenses to couples and to recognize marriage licenses obtained in other states by same-sex couples.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6 to 3 decision, upheld the right of the federal government to provide health care insurance subsidies to people with low income in states that have chosen not to participate in the Affordable Care Act by setting up insurance “exchanges.”

The decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, is a big political victory for the Obama administration and a big relief for people with low incomes, including many people with HIV.

It is a rare occasion when LGBT legal activists find themselves on the same side of a case as the conservative Christian Legal Society and the National Association of Evangelicals. It is also rare to find LGBT legal activists on the same side as conservative Justice Antonin Scalia and his fondness for hewing to the original explicit language of a law.

But so it was with EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch June 1, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an employer cannot escape federal law’s requirement to accommodate a job applicant’s religious practices by claiming the applicant never told the employer about his or her religious practices.